Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 4.djvu/810

734 to Ctesias (Exc. Pers., 12) he died at Babylon, of a wound accidentally inflicted while carving a piece of wood for his amusement These accounts agree in representing his death as accidental A. somewhat different impression is conveyed by the statement of Darius on the point in the Behistun inscription (i. 11), who says that &quot; killing himself he died (Of. Oppert, Les inscriptions des Achemeiddes, p. 54.) It may be, as Spiegel believes (Eran. Alterthum., ii. p. 302), that the phrase expresses nothing mors than the Greek tradition reports. Rawlinson, however (Anc. Mon., iv. p. 394), and Duncker (op. cit., ii. p. 801) understand it as meaning that he committed suicide. The character of this king is sufficiently obvious. It is evident that he was an impulsive, self-willed; reckless, ambitious despot, of the peculiarly Oriental type, possessed of considerable ability as a general, but with passions so strong and uncontrolled as to render the powers he possessed worthless for good. It was reported that from his childhood he was liable to epilepsy and also, what is probably more trustworthy, that he came to be much given to wine. By the Egyptians he made himself utterly abhorred. By the Persians also, while they acknowledged his success in enlarging their empire, his memory was held in evil repute. While they called Cyrus a father, they called his son a despot or master ; and while they said the one was &quot; gentle, and procured them all manner of goods,&quot; they called the other &quot; harsh and reckless &quot; (see Herodotus, iii. 33, 34, 89). In the Hebrew Scriptures, Gambyses appears once under the name of Ahasuerus, in Ezra iv. 6 (see ). Some suppose that he is the &quot; cruel lord &quot; and &quot; fierce king,&quot; to whose hands the Egyptians were to be given over, according to Isa. xix. 4 His name occurs in Babylonian contract-tablets found at Warka, with the title &quot; Cambyses, king of Babylon.&quot; (See Loftus, op. cit., p. 222 ; Bosanquet, Trans. Bib. Archaeology, i. pp. 210, /.) He is usually regarded as the Lohrasp of Persian traditional history (Malcom, Hist, of Persia, i. p. 334) ; but another of the heroes of that cycle of romance, Kaus, appears both from the name and from the exploits ascribed to him to be the true representative of Cambyses. (Cf. Spiegel, op. cit., vol.i. p. 594; Grobineau, Hist. desPerses, vol. i. p. 523.)  CAMDEN (1), a city of tho United States, capital of Camden county, New York, situated on the left bank, of the Delaware River, directly opposite Philadelphia, with which it is connected by a regular steam-boat service. It lies 87 miles S.W. of New York, and is the terminus of several railway lines. Among its public buildings the chief place is held by the court-house and the railway stations ; and its principal industrial establishments are iron- foundries, saw-mills, chemical works, glass-works, shipyards, and engineering factories. The city received its charter in 1831 ; and gas-light was first introduced in 1852. In 1840 the population was only 3371 ; in 1850 it amounted to 9479, and in 1870 to 20,045.  CAMDEN (2), the capital of Kershaw county in South Carolina, United States, 33 miles N.E. of Columbia on the Wateree River, which is navigable for steam-boats as far as the town. It contains an arsenal, an academy, and a library, and is altogether a flourishing little town. It is best known as the scene of two battles, the first fought in 1780 between Gates and Cornwallis, and the second in 1781 between Greene and Rawdon. Population in 1870, 1007.  CAMDEN, (1551-1 G23), a celebrated anti quary and historian, was born in Londun, May 2, 1551. His father, who was a native of Lichfield, settled in Lon don, where he became a member of the company of paper- stainers. His mother was of the ancient family of Curwen of Workington in Cumberland. Young Camden received hia early education at Christ s Hospital and St Paul s School; and in 15GG he entered as a servitor of Magdalen College, Oxford; but not succeeding in getting a derm s place, he removed to Broadgate Hall, and, somewhat more than two years afterwards, to Christ Church, where he was supported by his friend and patron Dr Thornton. About this time he became a candidate for a fellowship at All Souls College, which he lost through the adverse influence of the Roman Catholic party. In 1570 he supplicated the regents of the university to be admitted bachelor of arts, but in this also he was disappointed. The following year Camden came to London, where he prosecuted his favourite study of antiquity, under the patronage of Dr Goodman, dean of Westminster, by whose interest he was made, in 1575, second master of Westminster school. From the time of his leaving the university to this period, he had travelled through great part of England, with a view to make observations and collect materials for his Britannia, on which he was now seriously engaged. In 1581 he became intimately acquainted with the learned President Brisson, who was then in England, and in 1586 he published the first edition of the Britannia, a survey of the British isles, written in elegant Latin. In 1593 he succeeded to the head mastership of Westminster school, on the resig nation of Dr Grant. In this office he continued till 1597, when he was promoted to be Clarencieux king-at-arms. In 1600 Camden made a tour to the north, as far as Carlisle, accompanied by his friend Mr (afterwards Sir Robert) Cotton. In 1606 he began his correspondence with the celebrated President de Thou, which continued to the death of that historian. In the following year he published his last edition of the Britannia, from which the several Eng lish translations have been made ; and in 1608 he began to digest his materials for a history of the reign of Queen Elizabeth. In 1609, after recovering from a dangerous ill ness, he retired to Chiselhurst in Kent, where he continued to spend the summer months during the remainder of his life. The first part of his annals of the queen did not ap pear till 1615, and he determined that the second volume should not appear till after his death. The work was entirely finished in 1617; and from that time he was principally employed in collecting materials for the further improvement of his Britannia. In 1622, being now up wards of seventy, he determined to lose no time in execut ing his design of founding a history lecture in the university of Oxford. His deed of gift was accordingly transmitted by his friend Mr Heather to Mr Gregory Wheare, who was by himself appointed the first professor. Camden died at Chiselhurst, Nov. 9, 1623, in the seventy-third year of his age, and was buried with great solemnity in Westminster Abbey, where a monument was erected to his memory. He was a man of great modesty and integrity, profoundly learned in the history and antiquities of England, and a judicious and conscientious historian. The Camden Society, founded in 1838 for historical research, was so named in honour of him. Besides the works already mentioned, he was author of an excellent Greek grammar, and of several tracts in Hearne s collection. His greatest and most use ful work is the Britannia. It was first translated into English, and published in folio in London in 1611, by Dr Philemon Holland, who is thought to have consulted the author himself; and therefore great respect has been paid to his additions and explanations, on the supposition that they may belong to Camden. But in a later edition of the same translation, published in 1636, the doctor has taken liberties which cannot be excused. A new translation, made with the utmost fidelity from the last edition, was published in 1695, by Edmund Gibson of Queen s College, Oxford, after wards bishop of London ; in which, besides the addition of notes, and of all that deserved to be taken notice of in Dr Holland s first edition, there are many other augmentations 